Chapter 367: Assistance from Parents-in-law

This doesn't allow the right people to do the right things, and the mistress is the only one who can do it. Does she want to tire everyone to death?

Xu Wan tilted her head and turned the page to continue reading: "Article 6: Choose clothes, shoes and accessories for your husband for all four seasons... This one is relatively reliable." Zong Zhao's clothes were all taken care of by her mother-in-law, so she could try to take over.

"Article 7..."

“…”

"Article 14: After becoming pregnant, you must select a concubine for your husband..."

Xu Wan was yawning and complaining about the miserable lives of the noble ladies in the capital as she read, until she came to this sentence and suddenly had a heart attack.

The hand that was originally flipping through the book no longer had any interest in reading any further. She closed the book and consoled herself, "Forget it. No one wants me to read these. It's more interesting to teach the children."

Xu Wan haphazardly stuffed the booklet into the pile of books and picked out the mock exam paper for the autumn exam to read...

In the next few days, Zong Zhao sent a message saying that he went to the military camp outside Beijing for something and asked her not to worry about him. Xu Wan blinked, always feeling that he was avoiding her, but he didn't say it explicitly, and she couldn't run to the military camp to ask him what was going on, right?

Xu Wan ignored him and focused on taking care of the children. When she had free time, she would go to find the little devil to see if his bad poetry had improved.

On the third day, Xu Wan received an invitation from Mrs. Yu Shilu, the Right Attorney General, inviting the women in her family to go to appreciate the flowers. The autumn examination was approaching, and Xu Wan wanted to postpone it. But thinking that Yan Suxue had just recovered her status and needed to go with her to meet people, the two sisters-in-law went out together.

As soon as the two of them left, the old lady could no longer sit still. She asked the old marquis to go to the military camp in person and call Zong Zhao back.

In the small courtyard, the old couple sat on chairs, looking at their tall son in front of them, each one more serious than the other.

Zong Zhao frowned and asked, "What's wrong?"

The old lady was impatient, and she asked directly, "Are you having a quarrel with Wan'er?"

Zong Zhao: “…No.”

The old lady stood up angrily and said, "You still say no, but if you don't, why don't you go home? The Yan family's case has been investigated, and the military camp doesn't need you to train soldiers or prepare for war. Why don't you go home and always live outside?"

Zong Zhao turned his gaze to the old marquis.

The old marquis immediately felt guilty. He coughed and said, "Your mother is also worried about you, so she came to me to ask about the things in the barracks. Zhao'er, we didn't want to interfere in the affairs between you and your wife, but your temper, if it was our familiar family members, we could understand it. Your wife doesn't know you well, and you still..."

This unfamiliar sentence was so hurtful that Zong Zhao fell silent for a moment.

The old lady continued to prick his lungs: "Don't be silent again. Today, while Wan'er is away, I must make things clear to you. You asked us to help you find a wife, but now you're leaving her alone. Jincheng will finish his imperial examination in half a year. I wonder what you'll do when Wan'er takes the money and leaves."

"She just treats me as her husband and doesn't like me..." Zong Zhao suddenly spoke, but his voice was a little low, "I didn't know what to do, so I stayed in the military camp for two days, but I still didn't figure it out."

He originally wanted to take it slow, but Xu Wan's blunt statement stunned him. She mentioned the marriage consummation so casually, which was like piercing through the mist and rejecting his feelings. He didn't lose his temper, he just didn't know what to do.

The old lady said to the old marquis, "You see, I knew he was thinking this way. He has been like this since he was a child. He keeps everything to himself. You are calm now, but do you know what Wan'er is thinking? We women are most afraid of being calm. Either the more we think about it, the worse it gets, or we just stop thinking about it and let it cool down. A few days ago, I heard that Wan'er asked you to move back, and I was so happy that I didn't sleep well all night. But you ran away the next day. You..."

The old lady became angrier and angrier as she spoke, and finally began to attack him personally: "I should have suspected that Jincheng was not your biological son. How could a taciturn person like you have a son?"

Zong Zhao: “…………”

The old marquis was frightened when he heard this. It turned out that his daughter-in-law was usually gentle when she scolded him, but look at how she scolded her son now... It was so pitiful.

The old lady criticized Zong Zhao severely, and finally got to the point: "Mother Zhao told me that on the day you left, Wan'er asked her to deliver a manual on serving your husband. She is also learning how to be your wife. Listen to what nonsense you are saying. She is not familiar with you, so it is normal that she does not like you. If you were her, you might not do as well as she does."

Zong Zhao raised his eyes to look at her, as if he sensed something.

The old lady was afraid that he didn't understand, so she said more bluntly: "Wan'er grew up in a different environment from you. Not only is she not as confident as you, she is also very sensitive. If you hide from her, she will be able to sense it and she will retreat."

On his way back to the courtyard, Zong Zhao kept thinking about the old lady's words, especially the last sentence.

He clenched his fingers and strode back to their room. Fortunately, the two quilts on the big bed were still there, the soft couch that had been taken out had not been put back in, and the heartwarming painting of a family of three was still hanging high on the back wall.

He walked to the desk and pulled out the mistress's manual that Xu Wan had read. It was a thick book, but only the first few pages showed signs of being turned. He turned to the last page she had read and saw the sentence about selecting concubines and maids for the husband during the pregnancy.

Zong Zhao suddenly felt distressed.

In order to reassure her and let her adapt slowly, he had only written in the guarantee letter stamped by the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Revenue that he would not hang out with prostitutes, and did not mention that he no longer had concubines or maids. But now that she saw this booklet...she would definitely be very disappointed in him, and would be more determined to treat him only as her husband.

"Pah..." He tore the booklet into pieces with great force, crumpled it into a ball and threw it on the ground, then Zong Zhao ran out.

…

Zuo Ducha Yu Shi, Lu Fu.

Xu Wan took Yan Suxue's arm into the courtyard and enthusiastically introduced the ladies of various families to her along the way. The Zong family's value had greatly increased due to Zong Zhao's conferment of the title, and Xu Wan had also become very popular in the capital.

Although the officials and their wives in the capital were polite in greeting for Xu Wan's sake, they could not hide their curiosity when they looked at Yan Suxue, and they kept muttering strange things:

"This is Prime Minister Yan's daughter. I heard that she was coveted by hundreds of families in the capital more than ten years ago. Now I see that she is indeed extraordinary. But it's a pity that she married the second son of the Zong family who died in battle a long time ago, and became a widow at such a young age."

"What a pity! If General Zong hadn't overturned the case for Prime Minister Yan, Yan Suxue would have never had the chance to show up. I heard that her whole family had been stranded in the slums before, and was only found and taken back by the Zong family a few years ago."

"Ah? Is there such a thing? I heard that she brought back a son, who was recorded as the eldest son of the second branch. Is this child who was brought back halfway really the second son of the clan?"

Mrs. Wei came over in a hurry, knocked a chattering noblewoman away with her arm, and squeezed over to smooth things over: "Hey sister, sister Yan, you came so late, you made us wait for a long time, and it was so boring to listen to the sparrows chirping all the time."